Keeping local

A Cuckoo was the avian highlight of a few more visits to the Cathedral Meadows, heard on most visis though not yet seen.  It's great to see and hear so many Yellowhammers there.  Other birds during these visits included Little Egrets over, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Bullfinches and my first newly-fledged passerines of the year, Mistle Thrushes (closely followed by Blackbirds).

Yellowhammer, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 5th May

Mistle Thrush, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th May

Rook, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th May

Whitethroat, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th May

Swifts finally made it back to North Elmham on 9th May.  In fact they may have made it a couple of days earlier - I could have sworn I heard one late on 7th but didn't eyeball it, and I wasn't around on 8th.

Buzzard, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

Red-legged Partridge, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

Robins, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

Whitethroat, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

The highlight of a visit to Great Ryburgh on 18th was a pair of Siskins, a species I'd not seen there before.  I say a pair, but although I had good prolonged views of at least one male I never got good views of a female.  At one point a second bird visited the feeders but remained directly behind the feeder for the whole time so I could only see such a tiny part of it I was unable to tell if it was male or female - when it flew it flew directly away and disappeared straight into the hedgerow.

Siskin, Great Ryburgh, 18th May

A pair of Common Terns visited the scrape briefly, displaying for the whole time they were here.

Common Terns, Great Ryburgh, 18th May

There was also a Sedge Warbler singing and at least 10 Barnacle Geese from Pensthorpe.